Based on the picture above of my belongings, one will be able to tell that I place a lot of importance on technology, which is evident from my Macbook, earphones, and camera SD cards. The fact that I carry around my Macbook shows that I am an avid computer user and do most of my work on my computer. From my earphones, one might infer that I spend a lot of time listening to music, and maybe that I do not like to hear a lot of outside noises and prefer to be isolated with my own music. The fact that I carry around not only one, but three different SD cards for my camera might cause some people to infer that I have an interest in photography. The yellow envelope with my name on it shows that I like keeping small items that represent some kind of memory, in this case my time at Princeton this summer. The yellow pack of mints show that I always need to have something in my mouth, usually gum, but in this case, mints. Lastly, the small piece of notebook paper with doodles and the phrase "bow ties and fezzes are cool" is something that represents the importance of my favourite TV show. From this small piece of paper, some may be able to infer that I like doodling and scribbling on small bits and pieces of paper, usually when I am bored.
However, more than the things that I actually did have in my bag during this class period, it is the things that are absent that define me more. The two of my most important belongings, my phone and my wallet, are missing from this photo. To be honest, my mom took away those two belongings after I got in trouble for staying out past my curfew. This shows that I do not always follow directions/rules, and can sometimes be rebellious.
For my first irb for the memoir unit, I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is her story of how she went from being an unhappy married woman to getting divorced from her husband and traveling to find true happiness. She leaves all of her troubles and confusion behind in New York and spends a year abroad, spending four months each in three different countries. In Italy she learns about pleasure, in India she examines her aspect of devotion, and lastly, in Bali, she finds out about the balance between worldly and religious enjoyment.
While reading this novel, I was able to find many passages that were very insightful and interesting. One such passage was something that the author mentioned about happiness on page 345. She wrote, “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.” This left a significant impression on me because I never thought about happiness as something like a chore, something that you had to make an effort to gain. But now, reflecting on all of the times I felt true bliss, I am able to see that I had never stayed happy for a long time, but that the happiness slowly wore off after time. From this passage, I was able to learn that I have to make an effort to become happy, and struggle to maintain that happiness.
Another passage that I believe will stay in my memory for a long time is something that Elizabeth Gilbert said about fate, or destiny. She said, on page 235, that "There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under my jurisdiction. There are certain lottery tickets I can buy, thereby increasing my odds of finding contentment. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I eat and read and study... I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my own thoughts." This was very interesting to me, because I had heard from many places that destiny was something that was predestined, and that there is nothing that we can do that can change our fate. However, after reading this passage, I was able to realize that there actually were aspects of our fate that we can control and therefore change.
My favourite passage out of the many memorable passages that were able to be found in this memoir was something that Richard, a fellow American she met in India, told Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was crying to him, saying that it was impossible to get over David, her former lover, because she truly believed that he had been her soul mate, Richard said something very insightful. He said, "People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life."
Both society and the media, such as Hollywood movies and romance novels, tell us that one day we will cross paths with the person who is our other half, the person who completes us, our counterparts. I too used to believe in this preconceived notion that had been influenced by the environment around me. However, especially after reading that particular passage in the novel, I saw that idea differently. It seemed strange to me that each and every one of us were not complete beings, but were only half of a human being with a empty void within us that would only be filled by finding someone who completed us. And it seemed depressing to me that if we were not able to meet our other half, we would wander around like lost souls, as incomplete human beings.
But after reading that passage and gaining insight into Richard's wisdom, I was able to see that it was true that we were incomplete human beings, but that it is not necessarily our soul mates that complete us, but the process of learning about ourselves. According to the passage, a true soul mate is someone who shows you your flaws and everything that is keeping you from being a whole. Although we may only be half of a human being at first, through growth and experiences, and maybe with the help of a soul mate, we can grow into full human beings and feel completely content and secure in our own skins.
